Review by Vrensc -- Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks

[Vrensc]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks" by Morton E Tavel, MD.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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I have never read any medical, dieting or nutritional guidance books before. My opinion has always been that what is good for you today will be seen as unhealthy tomorrow. Neither have I taken much notice of the latest diet fads. Now that I have reached my mid-thirties, I am not in the shape I thought I would be when I was a fit and fresh eighteen-year-old with no worries in the world. Now that the pounds have settled around my waist, struggling to keep a healthy lifestyle in a fifty hour a week job and being bombarded from all fronts by opinions on what is good for you and what not, the title and description of this book appealed to me. Being a scientifically minded person, the author’s assurance that he has conducted careful researched and the facts in the book are backed by solid science gave me the confidence to read the book.

The book is divided into broadly three parts, namely Tips, Myths, and Tricks. The section called “Tips” covers numerous subjects around health and wellness and how to incorporate this into your daily life. “Myths” deals with common misconceptions regarding our physical make-up. “Tricks” describes the strategies that are employed to confuse consumers into spending money on useless treatments and products. The author quotes scientific research to back up his arguments for and against each individual topic he covers.

Each chapter covers a distinct subject. The information given is succinct and to the point. The author states his case and provides a conclusion. This approach makes it easy to come back to the book to retrieve only the relevant information required. The author has gone to great lengths to compile the relevant scientific research pertaining to each subject covered in the book. A negative aspect of the book is that the use of research language, medical terms and statistics makes this book difficult to read.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Although being heavy with scientific, medical and statistical language, I believe that the information contained in the book contributes greatly to dispelling the myths and misinformation readily available to the general public. In this age of fake news, targeted marketing and the ever-increasing dieting fads a need exists to set the record straight. This book has a sound scientific research base behind the information and will contribute to overall body of knowledge available to person seeking more information on the health subjects covered. The book is divided into numerous chapters that each deal with unique issue that will appeal to a wide audience. The constant referral to studies provides good back-up to the arguments, but the use of medical terms and statistics may be overwhelming for some people. Health Tips, Myths and Tricks is a source of information to be used as reference material whenever claims of the next best treatment, drug or alternative medicine is believed.

The following errors were noted while reviewing the book. Two website addresses supplied in the book are not available anymore. These are (i) the ConsumerReports website referenced on page 34 and (ii) the nhlbi website on page 66. The numbering system used to create the numbered list on page 52 seems excessive. The hyphens on page 54 in the sentence “urgent priority in this—and most other —nations” should be removed. On page 194, “pertussis” should read “rubella” in the sentence “The common MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and pertussis)”

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Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
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[EvaDar]

I enjoyed reading your review. I agree there is some useful information contained in the book on diet and nutrition. If you check out my review you'll see that I had some problems with the author's total rejection of alternative medicine in any form. I felt that was quite out of integrity for a modern-day medical professional. But, I think the book could be well-used as a reference book. Thanks for the great review.